It’s a new day, which means a new opportunity. We are here to help you build the best possible DFS lineup. Here are the must plays and value plays for today’s slate (values are from DraftKings).
SP Jose Fernandez ($11,900): Let’s not get cute here. Fernandez is one of the best pitchers in baseball and is facing a mediocre New York Mets offense in pitcher-friendly Citi Field. It is all set up beautifully for Fernandez to pay off in a big way. Yes, he is priced high, but he is not even the highest priced pitcher on the slate. Don’t try and out think yourself here.
SP Noah Syndergaard ($10,400): Syndergaard is facing off against Fernandez in what should be an excellent pitching duel. He comes in $1,500 cheaper than Fernandez, which makes him a very good pivot to Fernandez if you decide to save a little money here. Like Fernandez, he has some of the best stuff in baseball and he showed it off in his first start this season. Not having at least one of these two pitchers in your lineup would be a mistake.
SP Kendall Graveman ($5,200): Graveman is certainly a risk, but any pitcher at this price will be. If you want to spend big on offense, you are going to have to pick a cheap pitcher, and Graveman fits that mold. The Los Angeles Angels are not a particularly scary offense — minus Mike Trout — and O.Co Coliseum is known to be friendly to pitchers. He’s risky, but it could pay off.
C Buster Posey ($4,800): Yeah, he is more expensive than any other catcher by a lot. But that is for good reason. Posey has gotten off to a great start this season and don’t expect Coors Field to slow down his hot start. Tyler Chatwood is on the mound, who is actually one of the Colorado Rockies’ better pitchers, but that is not saying much. Posey is as safe of a bet as anyone.
C Brian McCann ($3,700): Aaron Sanchez is a very good pitcher, but left-handed hitters slashed .282/.390/.488 against him last season (albeit out of the bullpen). Either way, that is not very good. On top of this, McCann is red hot at the plate and his legs should be fresh as the Yankees have not played since Saturday. Oh, and Rogers Centre is not a bad place to hit, either.
1B David Ortiz ($4,800): It’s Ortiz’s last season, yet his bat has shown no signs of slowing down. He gets to face Mike Wright, who is one of the worst pitchers throwing tonight and although it is a small sample size, Ortiz is 2-for-2 against him in his career with a homer. Ortiz is a good bet to go yard tonight.
1B Buster Posey ($4,800): See Above.
1B Mike Napoli ($3,500): If you are trying to save money at first base tonight, Mike Napoli is your best bet. He is averaging 11.3 FPPG and gets the platoon advantage against Matt Moore. Napoli is a cheap source of power and with so many good options at first base tonight I expect his percentage owned to be very low.
2B Joe Panik ($4,300): Panik hits high in the San Francisco Giants’ lineup, he has been very good this season, and he is playing at Coors Field. Need I say more? He also has the platoon advantage against Tyler Chatwood. Panik seems like a better play than a lot of the other second basemen priced higher than him.
2B Brock Holt ($3,400): Holt continues to amaze in Boston. He has become an integral part of their team. He is priced to buy at $3,400 as he has averaged 16.3 FPPG. He gets the platoon advantage against Mike Wright and gets to hit in Fenway. Holt is definitely a guy I am buying to save money.
Honorable mention: Daniel Murphy ($4,200)
3B Manny Machado ($4,500): Frankly, Clay Buchholz is not very good. I keep waiting for him to turn a corner, but I have given up waiting. He got shelled in his first start against Cleveland and Machado is scorching hot over his past few games.
3B Maikel Franco ($4,100): Franco is off to a respectable start and he always has the power to reach his value with one swing of the bat. He has the platoon advantage against Robbie Erlin and Citizens Bank Park has seen its fair share of home runs.
3B Brock Holt ($3,400): See Above.
SS Trevor Story ($4,900): I almost feel inclined to put him on this list. Leaving him off of it feels wrong. I do not love Story tonight, mainly for the reason that I expect that he will be highly owned due to his historic start. Jeff Samardzija is not exactly the scariest match-up and Coors Field is Coors Field. I cannot imagine him hitting another home run tomorrow (well I actually can), but then again I could not imagine him hitting seven homers in his first six career games.
SS Didi Gregorius ($3,200): He certainly is not a sexy play. But I mentioned Aaron Sanchez’s poor splits and Gregorius is averaging 8.4 FPPG. You’ll have to save money somewhere and Didi could help you spend big elsewhere while still providing some value.
OF Bryce Harper ($5,200): Jhoulys Chacin?!? That guy still is in the league? Yup, thanks to the Atlanta Braves he is. Oh boy could Bryce Harper have a field day tomorrow. Chacin is not good and has not been good for awhile. Harper is good and will be for awhile. Harper also has three stolen bases this season, which adds even more value to an already incredibly valuable player. Get him in your lineup.
OF Chris Davis ($4,500): Crush Davis hit a three-run bomb yesterday in the top of the ninth against Boston Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel that proved to be the game winner. I already touched upon how I feel about Clay Buchholz and Davis is 8-for-24 (.333) against Buchholz in his career. Davis is already an enticing play at Fenway, but with Buchholz on the mound he is even more of an appealing play.
OF Carlos Beltran ($3,900): This is not too complicated. I’ve mentioned Aaron Sanchez’s poor splits and Rogers Centre is a great place to hit home runs. Beltran is good a hitting home runs and, thus, at his price he is definitely worth a look.
OF Colby Rasmus ($3,400): He is priced to buy. He continues to rake at the plate and his power potential is far too inviting at this price. Rasmus is someone that I am probably building around. One of the best values of the day.
OF Rajai Davis ($3,300): Daivs usually leads off for the Cleveland Indians when a lefty is on the mound and Matt Moore is pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays tonight. Davis is a career .333 hitter off of Moore (5-for-15), which makes him an interesting play with his speed and low price.
Value plays: Franklin Gutierrez ($3,000) and Jon Jay ($2,900)
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